The Department of "General hygiene" was organized in 1941. The first head of the Department was  Professor Vladimir Petrovich Malyshev, who previously held the position of head of the sanitary-hygienic Department of the sanitary-bacteriological Institute.

In 1942, the Department was headed by doctor of medical Sciences, Professor Berestechko Lev Efimovich, who gave a deep development of hygienic science in the country. In 1945, Lev Efimovich was the Dean of the faculty of hygiene and the Department was headed by Professor Felix Stanislavovich Okolov known for scientific works on food hygiene and successfully developed this area of hygienic research.

In 1956, the Department was headed by Professor Gudzovskiy Georgiy Aleksandrovich. From 1956 till 1962 the head of the Department was A.Boyko 

In this period should be noted the high productivity of scientific and pedagogical work at the Department. Much attention was paid to the education of young professionals. Postgraduate and doctoral students of the Department carried out a number of major research in various areas of hygiene. The results of scientific research have been successfully completed in the form of a number of doctoral and master's theses and marked by high government awards. Future Professor Perelygin Veniamin Mikhailovich has prepared  thesis on the sanitary and hygienic characteristics of sugar factories in Kyrgyzstan at the Department of "General hygiene", headed the only at that time research Institute of the Ministry of health - the INSTITUTE of epidemiology, Microbiology and hygiene.

Developed within decades the scientific and pedagogical potential has  allowed the Department  successfully develop in the next years.

The Department was headed by Professors as: Ryspaev  Sapar (1962 - 1978гг.); Professor Mambetaliev Budin (1978 - 1998)-laureate of the National Award, doctor of Sciences, ; Professor Omor Kasymov (1998 and 2005)- laureate of the National Award, doctor of Sciences.

Currently the Department is headed by  associate Professor Djorbaev Anna Asanovna.

Educational and methodical work

There are priority directions of improving the educational process at the Department :

• development of new working programs, lectures, teaching AIDS and guidelines for practical and laboratory classes in accordance with the requirements of state educational standards, standard curricula and qualification characteristics of specialists;
• improvement of educational programs and thematic plans, making changes and additions to them due to modern achievements of hygienic science;
• introduction of innovative forms and methods of training;
• deepening the interaction of the Department with hygienic and clinical departments in order to improve the quality of theoretical and practical training of students and cadets.
• Adeveloped methodical recommendations on all sections of General hygiene 

Today research activities of the Department focused on the study of nutrition and assessment of working conditions of different groups of the population, as well as environmental and hygienic studies to assess the quality of drinking water, air, radioecological studies.

Employees of the Department are directly involved in the implementation of the program of health care reform, engaged in the development of a system of social and hygienic monitoring. Special attention is paid to the scientific substantiation of monitoring of public health in connection with the impact of environmental factors and risk assessment.

With the consultative assistant of staf of the Department is carried out the development of legal documents in the field of public health, water supply safety, food safety, technical regulation.

Employees of the Department actively participate in national and International congresses, conferences and seminars. The Department cooperates with a number of international organizations as: DFID, USAID, UNDP, WHO, international labour organization (ILO), Swiss Red Cross, EU, etc.). At the Department are planned two doctoral and three master's dissertations.